


sun runs out

by BillieShears



Category: Nothing Much to Do
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Ensemble Cast, Gen, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-21
Updated: 2015-02-21
Packaged: 2018-03-14 10:12:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3406835
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BillieShears/pseuds/BillieShears
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The virus hit Messina High hard. Nobody was entirely sure who or what was the catalyst, but in the middle of a chemistry class one day, a year ten came back from the bathroom looking anxious and jumpy, and next thing they knew, he’d turned. He lunged for the teacher while she was writing out the homework on the board – it happened too fast for anybody to stop it. After that, it was bedlam.</p>
            </blockquote>





	sun runs out

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this for 'The World Repeats', but it became much more of an ensemble story and much less of a Bea/Ben story, so I figured it was better as a stand alone outside of that series. This one takes place just a few weeks after Hero's birthday.
> 
> Some general trigger warnings - it IS a zombie apocalypse story, after all, so there will be violence and gore and character death.

The virus hit Messina High hard. Nobody was entirely sure who or what was the catalyst, but in the middle of a chemistry class one day, a year ten came back from the bathroom looking anxious and jumpy, and next thing they knew, he’d turned. He lunged for the teacher while she was writing out the homework on the board – it happened too fast for anybody to stop it. After that, it was bedlam.

Leo was the whole reason they had supplies in the first place. When he’d heard about the outbreak at Messina, he’d immediately loaded up on as many weapons as he could carry. Guns, ammo, knives – anything and everything he could get his hands on. Regulations had gone out the window the minute the outbreak happened – people were too scared, too panicked to care. He called Hero and told her to get as many people as she could back to their house – they were going to set up a fortress there.

Leo left them with most of the weapons, taking a knife for himself, and headed back out to get food and water.

“Shouldn’t one of us go with you?” Beatrice asked desperately.

“Absolutely not,” Leo was firm in his refusal, “stay here and start building a wall. Fortify the place as best you can. I’ve got my cell. If I’m not back in three hours… well, then I don’t think I’m coming back.”

Hero clung to him.

“Don’t go - I don’t want you to go,” She begged.

“It’s my job to protect you,” He said, stroking her hair, “I promised our parents. I already failed at protecting you once, Hero. I can’t do that again. Not now.”

“Come back safe,” She said, allowing Beatrice to tug her away, “I mean it.”

-

He hadn’t come back safe. Ben and Bea had gone looking for him when he wasn’t back by evening – they found him less than a mile away, half eaten in the front seat of his car, a trunk full of supplies.

-

Everyone tried to get in touch with their families first. The virus hadn’t broken out in Australia or Europe yet, so Hero’s and Bea’s parents were staying put. They wanted them to fly out as soon as possible to be with them, but airports were already shutting down across the world. Pedro’s parents were gone, nowhere to be found, and he still didn’t have a clue as to where John had run off to. Meg’s had left her a note, about meeting them near the town hall, but when she’d arrived it was so overrun with zombies, she hadn’t been able to get close enough. Ben’s and Ursula’s had already turned. Claudio had tried leaving with his parents, but they got separated by a herd and he couldn’t find them again, so he showed up at the Duke’s doorstep. Balthazar wouldn’t talk about what he’d found when he went home – neither would Robbie. Nobody pushed them on it.

-

The fortress held up, for the most part. They’d had to teach themselves how to use the weapons – not one among them had ever fired a gun before. Beatrice, Meg, and Pedro took to it the quickest. Ursula was a decent shot, too, and so was Ben, but the truth was, none of them really liked using the guns. Still – they all learned, and everyone had one on them at all times. Beatrice had also taken to carrying around a baseball bat she’d found, and Balthazar had become pretty fond of a crowbar he’d picked up on the side of the road during one of the raids. Hero was surprisingly good with a knife. Everybody took shifts: at least two awake at all times, patrolling around the house, protecting whatever they had left in the world as best they could.

-

They took care of each other. There wasn’t time for old grudges – even though Hero hadn’t forgiven Claudio, she was nothing but polite to him. Distant, but polite. Beatrice barely acknowledged Pedro. Meg wouldn’t even so much as look at Robbie, but to her credit, she didn’t offer up a word of complaint when he first showed up. For the sake of staying alive, everyone had to get along.

-

One morning, they woke up to find Robbie and half their supplies gone. Beatrice raged on for over an hour, while Ursula and Balthazar took stock of what was left, writing it all down and making necessary adjustments. When Meg found out, she just shook her head and mumbled: “what an  _asshole_.”

-

“Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Claudio had found Hero alone in the backyard, on her turn for patrol. She glanced up at him, taking him in – his hands were stuffed in his pockets, shoulders hunched. She tucked her knife into her belt loop and nodded, waiting.

“I just... wanted to apologize. For everything.” He looked to her, imploring, waiting for her to say something. “And I know that you didn’t have to let me stay here. With all of you. So - thank you, for that.”

“I didn’t cheat on you, Claudio.”

He nodded.

“Yeah,” He said, “yeah, I think I know that now.”

“I don’t really know if I’ll be able to forgive you for what you did,” She went on, and he nodded again, like he’d expected this. “But there are bigger things to think about it. And it’s not worth risking lives over. I’m not going to be the reason you die.”

“Well,” He said, shrugging helplessly, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Said Hero, and she turned away.

-

Everyone knew their strengths, and they played to them. Hero, Claudio, Ursula, and Balthazar usually stayed at the house on patrol while the others went out on raids for supplies. One day, Meg and Bea were able to scrounge up enough ingredients for Hero to make brownies. She’d had to switch out the eggs for applesauce and the milk for water, and it was a mix from a box, but still, they were  _brownies_ , and everyone scarfed them down, relishing in the decadent treat - a simple pleasure that took them away from all the madness for a while. Balthazar even broke out his guitar and serenaded them. Ursula sang harmony quietly in the background. Beatrice let her head fall on Ben’s shoulder, and he smiled at her, taking her hand. Hero and Meg cuddled up together, clapping along, and even Claudio and Pedro were tapping their toes by the end of it.  For a few hours, they were just kids again. For a few hours, it was just a party at one of their houses, and they were hanging out the way they used to, and everything was normal.

-

Once, on a raid, Beatrice nearly got bit. Ben grabbed her around the waist and swung her away in the nick of time.

“Thanks,” She said, breathless.

“Just delaying the inevitable, darling,” He crowed cheerily, as he put a bullet through the zombie’s head.

-

They lost Balth two days later. It was a stupid mistake – they all knew it, even  _he_  knew it, in those last few seconds. It was during the nightly patrol. Pedro was up at the front of the house, Balthazar covering the back half, and he’d heard a noise coming from the far end of the yard. He should’ve immediately called Pedro for back up, but instead, he wandered to the edge of the property alone, and was swarmed by a group of six. His screams snapped the others to attention immediately – Pedro got there first, but the others weren’t far behind, weapons drawn and ready. But they weren’t quick enough.

Ben was the one who wound up shooting him. Beatrice whispered that she and Meg would take over patrol; and the others went back inside and tried to pick up the pieces.

“It’s my fault,” Pedro cursed, eyes red and damp with tears, “I should’ve been there.”

“It wasn’t,” Hero reassured him, “Pedro, you have to know it wasn’t your fault. It could’ve happened with anybody.”

Pedro didn’t speak to anyone for three days.

-

It was Beatrice who reached out to him, on the third day of his silence. She came into his room - the one that he shared with Balthazar, the one that used to be Leo’s – and perched on top of the desk, cross-legged. She observed him for a moment while he pointedly ignored her, staring at the same page of his book for minutes on end.

“I’m still mad at you for everything that happened at Hero’s party,” She said, finally. “You were mean and petty and you were sneaky and started nasty rumors instead of trying to promote honesty. You handled everything wrong. And that – that’s on you. You and Claudio and Robbie and John and – that whole thing, it was partially your fault. I’m not absolving you from any of that.”

“Are you being serious right now, Beatrice?” Pedro snapped his book shut, turning sharply towards her, “You seriously want to talk about  _that_? Now? Balthazar is  _dead_  –”

“Exactly!” Beatrice jumped up from the desk, “ _Exactly_ , Pedro, that’s exactly my point. That’s why I came in here. All that other stuff – you  _should_  feel guilty about that. You had a part in all of that. But Balthazar dying – what happened to him – that wasn’t your fault. Okay? _You didn’t do that._ And you can’t just stay in here moping all the time, because of what happened. We’re all sad. It was awful, and if the world was fair, like, _at all_ , we could’ve stopped it or at least take time to properly grieve. But these are extenuating circumstances. We don’t have a choice here, Pedro. We’ve got to keep going.”

Pedro crumpled just then, letting himself sit back down on the bed, bracing himself on the edge. Beatrice came over and sat next to him, resting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” He said, finally, “About everything at Hero’s party, and before that.”

“That’s good,” Beatrice shrugged, “But I’m not really the one you need to apologize to.”

“That’s true.” Pedro stared down at his hands.

“And someday, when this is all over, we can fight about this properly,” She went on. “But no matter how angry I am at you, you’re still my friend, Pedro. And right now, I just need to make sure my friend is going to be okay. So - are you going to be okay?”

“Yeah,” He nodded, “yeah, I think I’ll be okay.”

“Good,” She crossed to the doorway, “because I can’t handle anymore moping faces.”

-

They lost Meg a week later, in one of the most heroic displays any of them had ever seen. It happened when she, Ben, Beatrice, and Ursula were on a raid. Ursula and Pedro had swapped out – his head wasn’t on straight, after Balth, and they thought it best he stayed home for the time being. They were in a drugstore, looking to stock up on medical supplies, when they accidentally tripped an alarm. A slew of zombies – more than twenty, at least – came pouring in out of seemingly nowhere, heading straight towards them. They were backed into a corner.

“Shit,” Ben hissed, reaching for his gun, “No way we can take them all.”

“They’re blocking the only exit, we can’t leave,” Ursula said, glancing around wildly. “We’re trapped.”

“I’ve got this.” Meg didn’t stop to think twice. “The minute you get the chance, run.”

“Are you stupid? You’ll  _die!_ ” Beatrice yelled. Meg’s only response was to cup Bea’s face in her hands and kiss her quickly, square on the mouth. She did the same to Ben and Ursula – a quick, hard kiss for each.

“Meg, you can’t,” Beatrice whimpered. Meg took her hands and squeezed them.

“I believe in you, stubborn girl,” She said. “Tell Hero to stay strong, okay?”

Then she cocked her rifle and ran into the herd, shooting like mad and screaming like a wild woman, sprinting to the other side of the store, as far away from the exit as she could go. Beatrice stood frozen to the spot, but Ben and Ursula each grabbed an arm and dragged her out. The last thing they heard was Meg’s shrill, shrieking laughter, fading behind them.

-

They were numb, all three of them, when they returned home that day. Ursula whispered the events to the others, while Ben followed Bea into the Aunties’ bedroom, the one she and Hero had been sharing since their house had become the safe haven. They collapsed on the bed, Bea pressed into his side.

“I can’t believe she did that for us.”

“She was incredible,” Ben agreed, dazed. He stamped a kiss on her head. “We never would’ve made it out alive, all of us. She knew that.”

There was a knock at the door, and Hero poked her head in.

“Can I join you?” She asked, and immediately dissolved into tears.

“Of course,” Bea beckoned, she and Ben sliding over. Hero curled up against her, sandwiching Bea between her and Ben. Bea took her hand, and let Hero cry into her shoulder.

“On my birthday, I felt like my whole world was ending,” She said, “and now, it really  _is_.”

Ursula and Pedro found them a few minutes later, and sat at the end of the bed side by side, shoulders pressed together. A few minutes later, Claudio came in, and dragged a chair over to sit by them.

“If she had to go out,” Ursula said finally, “at least she did it her way.”

“Always knew how to make an exit,” Ben added.

“Wonder Woman,” Bea chimed in, “That’s who Meg’s always been.”

-

The next morning, they agreed it was time to leave. Auckland was a mess – there was barely anyone left. The grocery stores, pharmacies, and anywhere to get weapons had been just about picked clean. They’d heard a rumor about a boat that was taking people over to Australia, where the word was the outbreak was being controlled. Word was you had to go under a twenty-four hour quarantine before being allowed on the boat, but after that, they’d be home free. After that, maybe they could pick up whatever was left of their lives.

They each took one backpack full of things. Beatrice grabbed a pair of Meg’s earrings, to have something of hers with them. Hero grabbed a picture of her, Leo, and their parents, the last one they’d taken as a family, from the wedding. Pedro had wanted to bring Balthazar’s guitar, but it was too big – it only would’ve slowed them down. Instead, he brought the journal he’d been keeping, the one he’d been writing songs in.

They found an abandoned mini-van in one of the nearby driveways, keys still in the ignition. They had to clear two zombies out of it, but it didn’t take much work. They all climbed in, letting Pedro take the wheel.

When they drove past the school, past a few straggling students and teachers who’d turned, Ursula started shouting.

“Stop, stop the car!” She cried, already yanking off her seatbelt, hand on the door handle. Pedro slammed the brakes. “It’s Dogberry and Verges!”

They’d long since turned – Verges’ pony tail had fallen off completely, exposing part of her scalp, and Dogberry was missing an arm. They snarled and stumbled towards the van. Ursula didn’t hesitate for a moment, didn’t even bat an eye – she drew her gun and shot them both, once, direct to the head. She slipped back into the car without a word, buckling her seatbelt and staring at the dashboard.

“Okay,” she said, voice thick, “you can keep going.”

-

They hit a roadblock about twenty miles later – a cluster of zombies in the middle of the road, ripping another carcass to shreds. That’s when they lost sight of Claudio. He spotted two zombies lumbering up behind the van, and he grabbed one of the knives, rushing them. He managed to kill one, but while he was pulling his knife back out of its skull, the other got him – bit him right on the throat, ripping out a good chunk of him. He didn’t even have the chance to scream.

The others still hadn’t noticed, at first. It wasn’t until they’d cleared the roadblock and did a headcount that they realized Claudio was even gone. Pedro went to check the car, thinking it was possible he hadn’t even gotten out to join them, but it was empty.

When he came at them, bloody and open-mouthed and growling, it was Beatrice who killed him. She swung the baseball bat straight to his head, and when he collapsed, she pulled the knapsack off of his back and tossed it to Pedro, a fire in her eyes.

“No more. Understand? We’re  _done_  losing people.”

“From now on, nobody goes  _anywhere_  alone,” Ben piped up, “Not to the bathroom, not to the car, not even around a corner. We use the buddy system, at all times, no matter what.”

“We’re less than a day’s drive away from the ferry,” Beatrice said, “so let’s just – let’s just drive straight through. No stops. We can’t risk it.”

She stalked off towards the car. One by one, the others followed her.

-

Bea sat in the last row of seats in the mini-van, with Hero leaned against her. Ben sat alone in the middle row, Pedro and Ursula sitting in the front. Bea was speaking to her cousin in hushed tones.

“I’m sorry I had to kill him,” She whispered. “I know things between the two of you were still bad, but that can’t have been easy for you to see.”

“You did what you had to do,” Hero replied dully. “He was already dead.”

“Should I have let you be the one to do it?” Beatrice asked, glancing down at Hero.

“I couldn’t have,” She shook her head, “He broke my heart and I hated him for it, but – I didn’t want to him  _die_. I never wanted that. I don’t think I have it in me, to do that to someone we know. Knew.”

Beatrice stroked Hero’s head, pulling her closer.

“Hopefully we won’t have to ever again.”

-

When Hero had fallen asleep in the back, Bea carefully extracted herself and crawled over the seats, sliding in next to Ben.

“Do you think Australia’s really safe?” He asked, settling his arm around her shoulder.

“I don’t know,” She admitted, “but we have to try, right?”

“Ten miles til the ferry,” Pedro announced, “almost there.”

-

They had to be quarantined separately. Their backpacks and remaining possessions were taken, and they were washed and examined thoroughly before being herded into tiny, make-shift rooms with small cots with exactly one pillow and no blanket. None of them slept much that night.

The following afternoon, they were granted access onto the boat and released from quarantine. Not all their possessions were returned – their backpacks were rummaged through and anything deemed questionable was removed. The items they were allowed to keep had been cleaned.

“Do you think we’ll be able to find your parents there?” Hero asked, coming to join Beatrice, who was sitting at the front of the ferry.

“I’m afraid to get my hopes up,” She said, “but… I really, really hope so.”

“I think we will,” Hero said confidently, “And then, when things settle down, we’ll find my parents, too.”

“You think things’ll settle down?” Beatrice asked.

“Yeah,” Hero nodded, looking out over the water, “yeah, I think so.”

“Can I sit?”

Bea looked up to see Ben hovering above them. He smiled when she reached for his hand and tugged him down to her level.

“Hey, dickface,” She greeted gently, dropping a kiss onto his shoulder, “how’re you holding up?”

“Well, you know,” He shrugged, “I’m alive. You two are alive. Pedro and Ursula are alive. That counts for something, right?”

“Definitely counts for something,” Ursula said, she and Pedro coming up behind them, “but I’m not sure what.” She leaned against the railing, her back to the sea.

“Are we gonna be okay?” Pedro asked, dropping down to sit next to Hero. “I mean – how are we supposed to move on from this?”

“We just  _do_ ,” Hero insisted, “we’ve got to, for Leo and for Meg and for Balthazar and for Claudio and everyone else we’ve lost. We’ve got to pick up the pieces and just keep living.”

“I think we’re going to be okay,” Ben said. He looked from one face to another, firm in his belief. “We’ve made it this far, right? Anything after this will be cake.”

Over the loudspeaker, someone announced that they were set to arrive in Australia late the following evening.

The sun was just starting to set.

**Author's Note:**

> also, i finally got a tumblr, because i decided i spent enough time lurking in the tags and should finally, you know, participate. i'm xxbillieshears over there, if you want to follow or say hello. :)


End file.
